Just How Much Money Is ‘Suicide Squad’ Going To Make At The Box Office?

Now, for all that we might be collectively completely over-excited about the imminent arrival of Suicide Squad on our screens the proof is, as Harley Quinn would no doubt remind us, in the puddin’. After all, it’s distinctly difficult to know whether or not we’re actually going to like a movie before we’ve had the chance to, y’know, see it. What is, however, a little more straightforward to predict, is just how much money the movie will make at the box office – or, at least, on its opening weekend. As such, and with Suicide Squad‘s arrival now mere hours away, it seemed time to ask:

Just How Much Money Is Suicide Squad Going To Make At The Box Office?

Suicide Squad/Warner Bros.

Well, if Deadline is to be believed – and as a general rule of thumb that’s a pretty smart call when it comes to box office predictions – Suicide Squad could well be set to make a veritable butt-load of money this coming weekend. Tracking reportedly suggests that it’ll debut to somewhere in the region of $130-140 million dollars in North America, with some outlets predicting a final figure a little north of even that lofty sum.

To put that in perspective, the previous record-holder for an August opening is Guardians of the Galaxy‘s $94.3 million opening weekend back in 2014 – and even the surprise mega-hit Deadpool only managed $132.4 million back in February. In other words? If Suicide Squad manages to make upwards of $140 million, it won’t just be seen as a success, it’ll be a runaway one. After all, anything over $94.3 million would already be record-breaking – – and even Warner Bros. is only currently predicting an opening in the region of $125 million.

The big question that raises, though?

Just How Much Money Does That Suggest Suicide Squad Will Ultimately End Up Making?

Suicide Squad/Warner Bros.

Which… is where things get a little more complicated. Y’see, with official reviews yet to arrive, it’s tough to gauge whether or not Suicide Squad will suffer a similarly steep drop-off to the critically-skewered Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. A huge $166 million opening weekend for that movie was swiftly undermined by a sharp 69.1% drop-off by the second weekend, meaning it only brought in another $51 million. It’s eventual domestic haul of $330 million, then, seemed unusually low considering its initial success.

Were Suicide Squad to receive a similar critical hammering, then, it’s entirely possible that a huge opening weekend could fail to translate to a large final total – something that is doubly true if it receives a luke-warm reception from fans, as Batman v Superman did. After all, with Suicide Squad predominantly featuring characters unknown to a non-comic-book-reading audience, there’s a solid chance that poor word of mouth could cause some serious damage to its box office prospects, and leave it with a final total somewhere between $200 and $300 million.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice/Warner Bros.

On the other hand, were the movie to receive a Deadpool or Guardians of the Galaxy-like heaping of critical (and fan) praise, then it’s entirely possible that it could break $200 million by the end of next weekend, and ultimately go on to beat Batman v Superman‘s final total of $330 million. If international takings were similarly positive (which is admittedly no guarantee with a largely unknown property like Suicide Squad), then the film would surely be seen as a welcome return to box-office form for Warner Bros, especially if it ultimately topped Batman v Superman‘s $872 million global haul.

Well, should the film do well – and prove to be as dark as has been suggested by early reports – then it’s entirely possible that we’ll see fewer changes made to the company’s upcoming projects than post-Batman v Superman reports suggested. Justice League , but the likes of Ben Affleck’s solo Batman movie may well be given freer license to ‘go dark’. On a more immediate note, a big success would take a lot of pressure off of next year’s Wonder Woman, with the DCEU likely being able to survive alternate box office stumbles far more easily than three in a row.

Should the film ultimately underperform, however – especially if that were seen to be the result of poor reviews or a lackluster fan response (something that seems increasingly likely as of the time of writing), then the opposite of the above would surely be true. Justice League (and any projects following it) would most likely jettison even more of their darker edges, and Ben Affleck would almost certainly be instructed to keep his Bat-project as family-friendly as possible. Wonder Woman, too, would suddenly have a whole lot of expectation placed on its shoulders, with the studio urgently needing a hit within the DCEU in advance of Justice League‘s arrival next winter.

Or, in other words? Warner Bros. will most likely be awaiting Suicide Squad‘s reviews more keenly than most – and hoping that rumors of a huge opening weekend are swiftly followed by a confirmed second weekend of box office success…

What do you reckon, though?

How much money do you think Suicide Squad will make domestically on its opening weekend?0 Votes